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MPAA Taps Steven Fabrizio as Global General Counsel

The Motion Picture Association of America has hired intellectual property litigator Steven Fabrizio as its new senior executive vice president and global general counsel.

Fabrizio made his name in the industry around the turn of the century at the Recording Industry Association of America, where as a senior VP in the business and legal affairs department, he confronted the rise of file-sharing services like Napster. Since 2001, he's been a partner at Jenner & Block and been a big courtroom presence on behalf of the content industry in high-profile battles against Grokster, Hotfile and Aereo. Fabrizio was part of Jenner's team that represented the movie studios and record labels in their win over peer-to-peer services Grokster and Streamcast in the landmark MGM v. Grokster case before the Supreme Court.

These past few months have been especially fruitful for Fabrizio. He won a big summary judgment motion against Hotfile in the first ruling against a cyberlocker for copyright infringement. He also played a key role in negotiating the $110 million settlement that resulted in the shutdown of BitTorrent indexer IsoHunt.

“Steve has been one of the entertainment industry’s most effective advocates for years, and has the perfect blend of knowledge, skill, and experience to lead the MPAA’s already talented legal team,” said MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd. “As the MPAA’s new Global General Counsel, he will continue to protect the rights of our industry’s creators and makers so they can do what they do best: tell stories that entertain audiences across the globe.”

“MPAA’s advocacy for its studio members is more important today than it has ever been,” said Fabrizio. “I am thrilled to be joining an MPAA team that I have respected and admired for many years.”

A graduate of Georgetown University, Fabrizio has been one of the notables on The Hollywood Reporter's "Power Lawyers" list.

He'll now be working for the film industry's top trade association, but in 2012, he told THR that his dream client was National Geographic. "Not because of any legal issue, but because of my love of photography," he said. "I want to meet their photo editor."